Three games in six days: Student hurlers serving two masters

Few counties have as many players involved in the Fitzgibbon Cup as Cork and the tight turnaround this week is a fair test of those involved and a clear indication of what exactly fixture congestion means to those most affected by it, writes Michael Moynihan.

Last Sunday Cork played Waterford in their first Allianz Hurling League game of 2020, a tight match in trying conditions which Waterford won by a point.

Then the complications began. Cork started Niall O’Leary, Robert Downey, Tim O’Mahony, Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon and Shane Kingston against Waterford, while Michael O’Halloran, David Lowney, Robbie O’Flynn, Brian Turnbull and Billy Hennessy were subs, though only O’Flynn saw action last Sunday.